Sorting and classifying of flat sheets, tallies, cards, or the like



June 30, 1925. 1,544,172

A. PERKINS SORTING AND CLASSIFYING OF FLAT SHEETS, TALLIES, CARDS, OR LIKE Filed Feb 8 5 ZkSheecs-Sheet l. 000 00 0000 0000 00 6v 00 00000000 00% EDGE/437' 987654-32'0 EDCBA 32l 987654-37'0 OPERATION OPERATION suB cons OPERATGRS CODE .suB CODE OPERATORS C DE 1,544,172 A. PERKINS SORTING AND CLASSIFYING 0F FLAT SHEETS, TALLIES, CARDS, OR THE/LIKE Filed Feb. 8, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 30, 1925.

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ALFRED PERKINS, 01E BIRMING, ENGLAND.

SOR'I'ING AND CLASSIFYING OF FLAT SHEETS, TALLIES, CARDS, OR THE LIKE.

Application filed February 8, 1923. Serial No. 617,798.

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, ALFRED PERKINS, residing at Birmingham, in the county of Warwick, England, a subject of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in or Relating to the Sorting and Classifying of Flat Sheets, Tallies, Cards, or the like, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the sorting devices or separating and classifying of flat sheets, tallies, checks, cards or the like of any material, either into numerical or/and alphabetical or other desired order or classification and particularly adapted for use with card indexes, work record cards, election cards, time cards, cost cards or sheets, pay checks, etc. for instance for recording particulars regarding the operatives engaged in a factory, and as examples there may be mentioned the turning up or picking out of single cards from card indexes without the necessity of manual sorting or for the sorting of cards into numerical sequence; in the case of time cards to facilitate putting in correct order in card racks or listing on the pay roll; in the case of record cards for filing purposes; and in the case of work record cards for sorting according to operatives code number, or again into article code number order.

The applications of the invention are however practically unlimited, the means varying in detail without departing from the principle of the invention.

Broadly stated, the invention consists in providing the sheets, cards, tallies, checks or equivalents with one or more series of perforations of any convenient size or shape adjacent one or more edges thereof, then cutting away the card from one or more of said perforations to the edge thereof to leave an open ended slot and then passing one or more separating devices through the holes of all the cards corresponding to that or those so cut away whereby all those cards not so cut away will be moved in relation to that or those which have been so treated whereby the sorting is effected.

The accompanying drawings show two examples of the invention, Fig. 1 showing an index or check card in normal condition, Fig. 2 showing a similar card punched at two places along its edge. Fig. 3 is a perspective View showing the method of operating with the cards in question.- Flgs. 4 and 5 show two checks or tallies suitably of metal punched at different parts. Fig. 6 shows a card having perforations adjacent all its edges and Fig. 7 a card having a single row of perforations subdivided for certain classifications hereinafter described.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 1 to 3, 6, the invention consists in providing adjacent one, Figs. 1 to 3, or more edges of each card a all being so provided in Fig. 6 one or more series of holes I) the number of said holes and of said series varying according to the number or purpose of the cards in the file and the number of sortings required respectively. One of said holes or a group thereof for example group w corresponds to the indexnumber or other indication of a particular card, (operation subcode being shown) and another group y to some other indication (operators code being shown) but such grouping may vary as to position in another card. The hole or holes I) corresponding to the index number or other indication or indications of each individual card is or are slotted or cut away to the outer edge of the card to leave an open ended slot 0 and when all the cards are arranged in a file such as d and it is desired to locate, sort or turn up any particular card or group or series thereof, a wire or rod 6 is passed through the holes corresponding to the numbers or characters of that particular card so that on the wire being raised or otherwise moved in relation to the batch of cards the required card is not moved and is consequently separated from the remainder, being left behind in the file d or in the drawer or other receptacle in which the cards are contained.

In the example illustrated in Fig. 3 it is desired .to sort a card a relating to operation suboode B and operators code No. 7; the wire e is therefore passed through holes in the pack corresponding to B as shown and then through holes corresponding to 7 so that all cards not punched to the edge at this character and number will not be raised by the wire but will be left in the file.

Taking as a further example a card index in which numbers are used as index media, the holes are punched from 0 to9 for each unit, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand or other groups or series and so on according to the number of cards it is proposed to use as illustrated in Figure 7. In all cards however falling within the same group or series (opposite to the number relating to the particular group or series 'concerned) the holes are slotted to the outer edge, as aforesaid, as shown at 7' and it will thus be seen that each card has a slot, instead of a complete hole, corresponding to each numeral formin an element of its particular com lete num er. I

T e cards are put in file in the order received and not first sorted into numerical order, thus cutting out the operation of sorting, the card required for reference being found by passing a wire through the stack.

Assume that a card numbered 12431 is to be located, indicated by-the slots j of Fig. 7 a wire or rod is passed through the 1 in the tens of thousands series of holes, then through the 2 in the thousands series of holes and through 4 in the hundreds series of holes; through 3 in the tens series and finally through 1 in the units series.

' When the wire or rod is raised'the card required is not raised but remains in the file whereas all other cards are raised, thus readily and invariably separating the desired card from the remainder.

As a still further example of a method of sorting a quantity of mixed cards bearingnumbers from 1 to 99,999 in which cards can be sorted quickly into numerical order before filing in a cabinet. The wire or rod is first passed through the 9 in the tens of thousands and when raised all cards in the ninety thousand series are left, the others being lifted out on the red; the rod is then passed through the 9 in the thousand series and when raised leaves all cards in the ninety-nine thousand series. The rod is then passed through the 9 in the hundreds series, thus leaving all cards in they ninety nine thousand nine hundred series;

whichever maybe required, ((1) machine or recess, the amount of information being imited onlyl by the size or pattern of the card and s ape and arrangement of holes and/or slots.

Two such tallies f, which may with advantage be of metal, are shown in Figs. 4 and 5 in which it will be seen that the are provided at the top with a row of he es 9 one hole in one tally being punched to the edge at it and a different hole similarly treated in the other tally; When the tallies are arranged in a file or receptacle and a rod passed for instance throu h the left hand hole of Fig. 4 this tally will be raised leavinghowever the tally illustrated in Fi 5 so that all such latter tallies will be 10 in the file or receptacle and the required sorting efiected.

By the method described above the cards or equivalents can be readily sorted and analysed into the number of articles handled by each operative and the number of articles of each size and quality handled by all operatives or by each operative, thus providing a complete record of the work done in any given period of time.

The holes in any of the examples cited may be punched round three or more edges of the card and slotted to correspond with codes entered on the card.

The cards may be sorted by a single wire or red going through each hole in turn or by any number of rods according to the denominations in the series. When it is required'to find a single card in a mixed pack it would be quicker to thread a wire through each hole corresponding to the number of the card. 7'

Any convenient means for readily threading the wire or wires, rod or rods, etc. and for selecting and raising it or them may be provided, but in the drawings (Fi 3) a single wire directly manipulated by the hand is shown.

-In the claim which follows the term cards is used for the sake of brevity to include also sheets, tallies checks, tokens or equivalents of paper, cardboard, metal, bone, xylonite or other appropriate material.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is A stack of cards each of which is provided adjacent an edge w th a plurality of perforations every perforation so disposed that it may be directly and separately slotted out to theedge of the card, and only those perforations being so cut away as relate to a particular classification desired whereby with the stack ositioned that the said cut away edges of t e cards are at the top of the stack and on a separating device being passed through corresponding perforations of a number of said cards only those so cut away and pertainin to said classification will remain whilst t e others may be removed by said separating device.

In witness whereof I have signed this specification.

ALFRED PERKINS. 

